Women’s Equality Day — From Equality as an Aspiration to Equality as Action Dr. Soraya Fallah Speech

In Women Equality Day Dr. Soraya Fallah delivered a speech titled “Women’s Equality Day — From Equality as an Aspiration to Equality as Action,” emphasizing that equality must extend beyond an ideal or principle and become a meaningful part of everyday life, public policy, education, and community engagement. She highlighted the importance of creating equitable opportunities for women and girls, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse and historically marginalized communities, and emphasized the role of education, civic participation, leadership, and collective action in advancing gender equality. Dr. Fallah also underscored that achieving equality requires moving from recognition of rights to concrete action that removes barriers and ensures that every woman and girl has the opportunity to participate, lead, and thrive.

Women’s Equality Day — From Equality as an Aspiration to Equality as Action

Dr. Soraya Fallah Speech 

August 23, 2026

Good afternoon, everyone.

It is a true honor to be here with you today, especially on the eve of Women’s Equality Day, a day that reminds us not only of how far women have come, but also of how much work remains.

I am speaking to you today in my capacity as Co-President and Advocacy Chair of the United Nations Association of the USA, San Fernando Valley Chapter, but I am also speaking to you as a woman from a culturally and linguistically diverse community.

And that personal identity matters to the conversation about equality.

Because equality is not experienced the same way by every woman.

For some women, the barriers may be economic opportunity or political representation. For others, it may be language, immigration status, displacement, cultural barriers, lack of access to education, healthcare, technology, or simply not having a voice at the table where decisions are made.

That is why Sustainable Development Goal 5—Gender Equality is so important.

SDG 5 calls on the world to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

But I believe we must understand SDG 5 not simply as a goal written in the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

It is a promise.

A promise that women and girls should have equal rights, equal opportunities, equal access to resources, and an equal voice in shaping the societies in which they live.

And SDG 5 does not stand alone.

Gender equality is connected to nearly every other Sustainable Development Goal.

You cannot eliminate poverty without empowering women.

You cannot achieve quality education when girls are denied access to learning.

You cannot achieve good health when women cannot access healthcare or make decisions about their own lives.

You cannot build peaceful and inclusive societies when half of the population is excluded from leadership and decision-making.

Gender equality is not a women's issue. It is a human rights issue. It is a development issue. It is a democracy issue.

And it is everyone's responsibility.

As UNA-USA advocates, our role is to take these global commitments and connect them to our communities.

We ask: What does the United Nations mean here, in the San Fernando Valley?

It means making sure that women from every background—including immigrant, refugee, culturally and linguistically diverse communities—know that their voices matter.

It means creating pathways for women and girls to participate in education, leadership, economic opportunity, civic engagement, and decision-making.

It means ensuring that a woman does not have to give up her language, culture, identity, or dignity in order to have an equal place in society.

And it means moving beyond celebrating women to investing in women and listening to women.

For me, this is deeply personal.

As a woman from a culturally and linguistically diverse community, I understand that sometimes the first barrier is simply being heard.

But I also know the power of women when they come together.

When women support one another, we create networks.

When women speak, we create visibility.

When women organize, we create movements.

And when women enter spaces where decisions are made, we change the decisions themselves.

That is the spirit behind Women’s Equality Day.

The women who fought for suffrage did not simply ask history to remember them.

They demanded that history change.

And today, we inherit that responsibility.

We must ask ourselves: What will our generation do with the opportunities that earlier generations fought to create?

Will we be satisfied with equality written on paper?

Or will we work toward equality that women can actually experience in their everyday lives?

Because representation without meaningful participation is not enough.

Rights without access are not enough.

Laws without implementation are not enough.

And promises without action are not enough.

As we move toward 2030, the question is not whether gender equality is important.

We already know that it is.

The question is:

What are we going to do about it?

At UNA-USA SFV, advocacy is one part of that answer.

We connect people to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We educate, we advocate, we mobilize, and we encourage our communities to see themselves as part of a global movement for human rights and sustainable development.

So today, I invite every person in this room—not only women—to become part of that movement.

Support a girl who needs a mentor.

Open a door for a woman who has been excluded.

Listen to a woman whose voice is often overlooked.

Advocate for policies that advance equality.

And when you see discrimination, do not normalize it.

Speak.

Because equality does not happen automatically.

Equality happens when people decide that inequality is no longer acceptable.

As we celebrate Women’s Equality Day, let us remember the women who came before us.

Let us stand with the women and girls who are still fighting for their rights today.

And let us make sure that when future generations look back at our time, they can say:

This was the generation that did not simply talk about equality.

This was the generation that moved equality forward.

That is the promise of SDG 5.

That is the spirit of Women’s Equality Day.

And that is the work we must continue—together.

Thank you.